Misunderstood Photoshop: Clipping Masks

The Photoshop clipping mask feature is a quick way to create effects such as text filled with a photograph. Helen Bradley points out more handy uses for clipping masks, such as limiting the effect of adjustment layers, or simplifying the process of editing a portion of an image. You can follow along with the accompanying video tutorial to see exactly how it's done.

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In this series, Helen Bradley discusses some handy Photoshop tools that are
often overlooked or misunderstood, either because they’re hidden away or
because their use isn’t immediately apparent. Yet these tools provide
smart and useful ways to perform various tasks in Photoshop, so they’re
worthy of adding to your Photoshop skill list.

In the third article in the series, we consider the clipping mask
feature, which is often incorrectly referred to as "clipping paths"
and sometimes called a "clipping group." This feature often is used to
create text effects in which the text looks like it’s cut from a photo,
but clipping masks have other uses that we’ll examine in a bit.

NOTE

To follow along as we explore clipping masks, watch the accompanying
video.

Clipping Mask Basics

A clipping mask is created using two layers of a Photoshop image. Transparent
pixels in the bottommost layer act as a mask for the image on the layer
above.

The easiest way to understand how clipping masks work is to try one yourself.
Follow these steps to use a clipping mask to create text that looks like
it’s cut from a photo:

Open a photograph in Photoshop, double-click the background layer, and click
OK to convert this layer to a regular layer. Click the Horizontal Type tool,
click on the photo, and type some text on the image. (Choose a font with thick,
solid letters so there’s plenty of room for the photo to show through.)
Don’t worry about the text color; when this effect is complete, you
won’t see the color anyway. Figure 1 shows the sample I’m
using.

Figure 1 Turn the
background layer of an image to a regular layer and then add some text to a new
layer, using a thick, heavy font.

Drag the text layer below the photo layer. Position your mouse pointer over
the border between the two layers and hold down the Alt key (Option key on the
Mac). When the mouse pointer changes to two overlapping circles (see Figure 2),
click once to create a clipping mask. This is the equivalent of clicking the
topmost of the two layers and choosing Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

Figure 2 To create a
clipping mask, hold down the Alt key (Option on the Mac), position the cursor
over the border between the two layers, and click.

The photograph is masked by the text, so only those areas of the photograph
that appear over the text are visible (see Figure 3). One benefit of this
technique is that it’s editable, so you can move the photograph or the
text around on its respective layer. As you do, the visible portion of the
photograph on the screen changes. You can also click the layer containing the
text and change the text or its format—choosing a different font and font
size, for example.

As Figure 3 shows, when you create a clipping mask the top layer thumbnail is
inset slightly in the Layers palette, and a down arrow appears to the left of
the thumbnail, indicating that the layer is part of a clipping mask. The name of
the bottommost layer of the clipping mask—the one that’s acting as
the mask—is underlined.

If you have difficulty moving the text on the text layer, select the Text
tool, Ctrl-click the layer thumbnail for the text layer (Command-click on the
Mac), and continue to hold down the Ctrl or Command key as you drag the text
around.

To undo the clipping mask, position the mouse pointer over the border between
the two layers and Alt-click (Option-click on the Mac).

Let’s complete the effect in this example by adding a lighter version
of the image below the clipping mask. Duplicate the image layer and drag it
below the clipping mask. Add a white-filled layer above that layer, and decrease
the opacity of the white-filled layer to reveal some of the image below. Add a
small Outer Glow layer style to the text layer to draw attention to it (see
Figure 4).

Figure 4 Finish the
effect by adding a duplicate of the image layer, and lighten it with a partially
opaque white-filled layer.